Hep C infection after test missed

A PATIENT has contracted Hepatitis C from an organ transplant
after a test that would have detected the disease was not performed
until after the operation.

The nucleic acid test (NAT) was not done before the transplant
because it was not available after hours.

Had the test been done before the operation, the patient would
not have had the transplant and would not have contracted Hepatitis
C, a spokeswoman for NSW Health has admitted.

The name of the hospital where the incident occurred, and the
exact time it happened, has not been revealed because these details
could lead to identification of the organ donor - who died on the
night in question - or the recipient.

But the incident, which occurred at a major Sydney teaching
hospital in the past six months, has led to calls for NAT tests to
be available 24 hours a day across the country.

NAT tests are generally used before organ transplants because
they can more accurately pick up Hepatitis C and HIV than the
antibody tests that are mandatory before any transplant.

In the wake of the incident NSW Health has committed to funding
24-hour-a-day availability for NAT testing, and the Australian Red
Cross Blood Service, which provides the tests, is in the process of
implementing the new service.

Australians Donate - the peak body for organ and tissue donation
- has backed similar changes for the whole of Australia.

NAT testing is not mandatory.

In the case of the the patient who contracted Hepatitis C, a
spokeswoman for the Red Cross Blood Service said the organisation
had fulfilled all its responsibilities and that, in the end, the
decision to go ahead was up to the doctors.

"NAT testing was undertaken according to our standard procedures
and the results communicated to the treating physicians as soon as
they were available," she said.

The NSW Deputy Chief Health Officer, Kerry Chant, said while a
NAT test was performed in the case of the infected patient, "it was
done on the routine run the next morning" rather than at the
time.

Had the test been ordered immediately "it would have come back
in time for the transplant", Dr Chant said.

She also admitted: "It would have changed the decision in this
case if the testing had been done."